It is that time again! This is the week when all graduate students in the Anthrozoology master’s program meet on campus for the beginning of a new exciting semester. This time we have 21 new stellar students joining the veterans for 4 days of intense meetings to start off the new school year with a well organized work schedule. We are meeting on campus for what is called the “on campus component” (OCC) part of the program. From here we go back home and embark on a busy juggle of work, private lives, and school, all from the comfort of our home states.

The OCC is the part of the program where we forge relationships with our peers, faculty, and we feel the closeness of belonging to a community of scholars focused on common goals. It is also a time when we start thinking about capstones and/or special projects. It is never too early to initiate the conversation with faculty regarding the capstone project; explore your ideas with peers and maybe get new ones from your discussions.

No matter what the workload is during OCC, have a good time and enjoy the beautiful campus.

Last week Buffalo finished one of the best weeks of the year – Local Restaurant Week! As we all know, our city is on the rise and Buffalonians are beaming with pride, so what better way to celebrate this than with independent local restaurants serving up some of the best food deals around! Local Restaurant Week is the perfect opportunity to explore new foods, support local restaurants in our area, and experience all the culture and history Buffalo has to offer. With over 200 participating restaurants spanning from Lockport to Downtown to East Aurora, the options are seemingly endless. Each participating restaurant has special features priced at $20.16, $30.16 or $40.16, with varying appetizer, entrée, drink, and dessert combinations for brunch, lunch, or dinner.

With so many restaurant options, my friends and I didn’t know where to start. Figuring we couldn’t go wrong with Italian food, we opted for Osteria 166. Once we arrived, we were glad we made reservations because it was packed! (TIP: During featured weeks like this, always see if it’s possible to make reservations beforehand). The smell when we walked in immediately brought me back to my grandma’s kitchen and Sunday sauce. We squeezed our way through the bar and still had to wait a few minutes before being seated. Waiting isn’t so horrible, though, when you are in good company!

During Restaurant Week, regular menu items are still available, but how could you pass up an appetizer, entrée, and dessert or drink all for only $20.16? We decided if we all got something different then we could split the dishes and try even more food. (TIP: Ordering different things and sharing with your friends is the perfect way to try new foods and get the most for your dollar!) We started with a glass of wine, which ended up being quite a generous pour. My three friends and I decided to get the Mozzarella Focaccia, two Bruschetta Miste, and a Meatball for appetizers to split. Why not try a little of everything?! The Mozzarella Focaccia was thickly cut bread topped with gooey mozzarella while the Bruschetta Miste was a spread of fresh Italian bread garnished with a seasoned artichoke mixture, red pepper hummus, or diced tomatoes. All were delicious; however, the meatball was on another level. For starters, it was the size of a softball. Each bite literally melted in my mouth, and the house marinara sauce was perfectly complimented by a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese. It very well might have been the best meatball I ever had (Sorry, grandma).

For the entrée portion my two friends and I got the Shrimp Pomadoro, and my other friend got the Chicken Parmesan. It was a perfectly sized portion, and I shamelessly finished the whole thing. I was so excited to try it that I didn’t remember to take a picture of the beautiful dish until it was completely gone (whoops!). The angel hair pasta was cooked perfectly and tossed in a sweet heirloom tomato sauce. The dish was completed with 3 succulent grilled shrimp. I would definitely order this dish again! To make the entire meal even better, my one friend decided to get dessert instead of the glass of wine for her “extra”. We shared the fried dough with Nutella, and it was to die for – as is anything with Nutella.

If you missed last week’s restaurant extravaganza, don’t worry. Local Restaurant Week is a biannual event, so keep an eye out for deals in the upcoming months!

Do you love animals? Want to make a difference in their lives? Look no further! Canisius Zoological Society is the place for you! The club is formed by students from all backgrounds and areas of interest.

Every year the club plans activities both locally and outside of New York state. The goal is education about other animals, both in captivity and in the wild. The club offers opportunities for participating in field trips, local expeditions, and fund raising to help the local zoo provide enrichment objects for their animals.

So it’s summer. And it’s warm. And I have summer classes. With my summer classes, I have to do two field placements. One is for my special education extension. The placement is through BOCES Summer School and I actually start tomorrow. I am excited to meet the 6 kiddos I will be working with, but also nervous because they are students that are in real need of the offered extra school year. The students here are 18-20 years old with severe disabilities, a group with whom I have never worked with. I am definitely excited to get to know them and learn amazing things from them. I am positive that I will be learning more from them then they will be learning from me. The second placement is a summer camp through the D.I Program and I am also really excited for that. We get to create our own theme so my group has chosen to do animals. We are excited to be taking them to the Buffalo Zoo and hopefully doing many other activities with them! They are a younger bunch (first and second graders) so I know they will love it! I start planning with my group on Thursday and I cannot wait!

Summer classes usually sound like a bummer. I know my brother is taking one online class and he is already unhappy. I am taking three, and as much as I am starting to get stressed, I know it will totally worth it.

However, since summer classes have only just started, I do not have much of an update of cool things I have learned. So until then, I just want to tell you about Canalside. Seriously, I am in love with that place and if I could build a house there for the summers, I probably would (because who wants to live near the lake during winter with lake effect…….seven feet of snow anyone?!?). Canalside is an extension of the Erie Basin Marina, which my family and I would go to ALL the time when we were kids. We would walk and listen to the music, even get some ice cream. But I will admit that the EBA got old after a while. There was nothing new happening, and as a child, that’s boring. Now as an adult, I can go there, relax and love it. Its simple ways made me appreciate it in a way that I have not before, so definitely check it out! But anyways, back to Canalside. So this extension is simply amazing. There is a restaurant, a small ice cream stand, as well as a small area that serves alcohol (perfect first date spot, all areas in one :)). On top of that, there is a sand pit area for kids, kayak rentals, as well as a sea of colorful adirondack chairs. A short walk away there is a new area that contains an ice rink in the winter, but a “pool” in the summer which you can rent paddle boats and water bikes. This new area is also home to Shark Girl, a Buffalo favorite.

See how much there is to do there? And that isn’t even everything. Each Thursday they hold a concert series that is hugely popular with Buffalonians. Also, this past weekend they held an amazing 4th of July event with record crowds. There was food, music, and an amazing fireworks display. I have been to other local displays but this one is by far the best with literally a half hour show of beautiful fireworks. They also host a variety of other events including different workout classes. Don’t you want to move there now? Thought so.

Buffalo is a city that is up and coming. There is so much to do that wasn’t there when I was a kid. I am so happy to see it getting better instead of worse. Attending Canisius and being so close by is awesome. Canalside is a hop, skip, jump away! When you attend graduate school here, make sure you take time to see things like Canalside as well as events like the Allentown Arts Festival, Taste of Buffalo, and so much more!

I finally finished all of my final exams and papers! It is a great feeling to have about 1.5 weeks of a mini summer vacation. Summer classes start on Monday May 18th, as well as my internship! After searching and applying all year long to positions, I finally was offered an internship in accounting for the summer!!! I’ll keep you updated with future blog posts. 🙂

We’re painting the roses red!

So I wanted to tell you about this awesome campus event that happens every fall and spring semesters, Community Day! On Saturday, April 18th, over 400 Canisius students volunteered at non-profit organizations throughout the city of Buffalo. Many groups on campus organized their own teams to volunteer at sites. Accounting Society had 14 students volunteer their Saturday morning, including me. Even as a grad student you can volunteer!

We went to the Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic Church located at 317 Leroy Avenue and we spent the morning repainting their guard rails in the church’s parking lot yellow. Next time, I definitely won’t be wearing jeans to Community Day, because I got them covered in paint! We all had a fun time helping to paint in the warm sunshine.

Accounting Society Volunteers

Front of Blessed Trinity

After painting, we all got a tour of the beautiful church. The church is a Nationally recognized historic landmark! It was built in 1923 and is one of the best examples in the United States of the 12th century Lombard-Romanesque architecture of Northern Italy.

Community Day was a great way to volunteer and give back to Western New York. If you’re looking to get involved beyond community day, I suggest checking out Canisius’s Community Service webpage.

PS: A year ago today (May 7th) I was accepted into the MBA program here at Canisius! Isn’t that crazy how much changes in a year? Last time this year I was still working with Toddlers at Doodlebugs and trying to decide what my next career move would be. Where were you a year ago?? And to think that this time NEXT year, I will be preparing to graduate!

Here’s a funny Jimmy Fallon bit about Mother’s Day, as it is on May 10th!

I wanted to catch you up on the great events that have been happening this semester!

Even though the MBA Alumni Association is an organization for those who have graduated from the MBA program at Canisius, students are welcome to attend their events which are held throughout the year. From networking to presentations, the events are great for the professional development of the Canisius MBA community.

Flying Bison Brewery Logo

On Thursday, April 16th, the MBAA Association held a networking event and fundraiser for their MBA scholarship fund at Flying Bison Brewery. This event was great because we got to tour the brewery and see how Flying Bison craft beer is produced locally in Buffalo! With the recent economic growth of WNY, there has been a surge of local craft breweries. Being able to learn, first-hand, from the Brewery Owner’s son on how they make their beer was fascinating! I took a Biochemistry course during my year of post-baccalaureate studies (back when I thought I would be an OBGYN and go to a DO school to study medicine). For the laboratory portion of the course, we spent six weeks fermenting grape juice with various sugar and yeast concentrations to understand the fermentation process. Since beer is made with a very similar fermentation process, it was exciting to see the commercial applications of what was learned in Biochem lab!

Brewing Tanks

This event was the second to last event for the school year for the MBA Alumni Association. Next week will be the Graduate Business Programs and MBAA Annual Mixer, which will include a silent auction and the Annual Awards presentation to several notable Canisius community members. If you’re looking to network more with the Canisius business community as a student (or prospective student or alumni) I would totally suggest you come to the Annual Mixer on Friday May 8th so make sure to get your tickets to the event!

Since I’ll keep this censored (so many funny videos involving alcohol that would be totally inaprorpo), here is a funny clip about candy!